Even if we are to pay for TV licences, there are at least 5 reasons why GBC mustn't receive a cedi until it fully reforms its ways and norms.
1. It (GBC) competes with the private media agencies for advertising money. Adding tax money on top of that is unfair. The decision to give a sop out of the licence money to the private industry lobby group, as a counterbalance, is a cynical tactic that only worsens the illogicality of the whole endeavour.
2. It does not respect public interest advocacy. When I used to help manage IMANI's events, GTV was the only station that refused to honour a single invitation despite detailed written explanations regarding the public interest value of those events. They refused to carry comments and cover treatments on STX, China CDB loan, China Hassan, etc. All of which became matters of topical public interest.
3. It charges for covering non-commercial events, even those of obvious news value. I have seen invoices issued by GBC to cover newsworthy events of a non-promotional and non-commercial nature. This means that GBC considers its airwaves as available to the highest bidder. To use taxpayer's money to endorse such a retrogressive notion of broadcasting is tantamount to subsidizing unethical broadcasting. This is because charging to cover an event requires that the said event be treated as an advertorial and not as news (viewers need to know that airtime has been paid for by a party connected to the subject or event being covered). GTV regularly flouted this basic ethic.
4. Unlike public broadcasting systems elsewhere, GBC is not organised properly as a Public Trust. It's governance and management are highly susceptible to the government of the day influence. Though recent assertiveness of the NMC has somewhat improved the situation there remains insufficient safeguards against state influence in the appointment of board members, managers and other key functionaries.
5. GBC is no longer the primary community broadcasting medium. Its audience share across the country has shrunk to a point of near irrelevance. There is now no basis to suggest that a tax-funded model is more effective in delivering any content or covering any niche that the advertising-funded model cannot penetrate. GBC's own "strategic business units" probably recognises as much hence the limited investment made to date in community broadcasting and the increasing, even if also awkward, attempts to match the private stations in entertainment programming. Why should public taxes go to underwrite this lifestyle?
It is shocking that the government is allowing the controversy about the TV licence wahala to go to waste. What happened to "strategic policymaking"? Isn't this the right time for Government to ride on the wave of discontent to announce wide-ranging reforms to public broadcasting with a view to fixing what is clearly a very broken model?
Source: Bright Simons
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does CJ think ghanaians are stupppidd? the tv license courts will be a joke. the collectors will collect bribe and pocket the money. N the whole scheme will be another ***barred word*** joke
It is only in africa that the more ***barred word*** u become, the more u rise to leadership positions. this tv license issue is the most stuppppppppppiddddd thing a person of supposedly sound mind can think of insitutionalizing. what will u do if ppl cannot pay? jail them? how many ppl watch GTV? does GTC not run on govt money plus commercials and still do worse than private media houses that rely on only advert, despite competittion from GTV? how stttttuuupid can u be to insist that ppl pay tv license? only fooooooooolishness can make someone dream of such a thing. dumb shitttttttttt. NO ONE SHLD PAY!!!
our leaders are ***barred word***. food is expensive, we hv housing problem. N the CJ is thinking of jailing ppl over TV license! if stuuuuuppppidity can be be the leader of a nation, i am sure u will see it in Ghana as a human being.
Can u jail me for having a TV and not paying TV licence because I DO NOT USE THE TV? NO one must pay this TV license. The fact that it is a law does not mean we shd obey it. It is a fooooooooooolish law and we shall not obey. What can they do if we do not pay TV license? Jail us? or what? what can they do? tweeeeeeeaaaa. If i have a TV and i do not turn it on, can u take me to court? on what charge? for owning a TV that i do not use and not paying TV licenese on it? Nkwasssssia sem! I have a TV but I WILL NOT PAY!!!! come and catch me and take me to court!!!! u will see how fooooooooolish i will make u look!!!
GBC operates GTV (a channel for events that matter most to Ghanaians), which is broadcast nationwide on analogue terrestrial platform. Additionally, GBC runs five (5) digital channels namely, GTV Sports+ (a channel for sports), GBC 24 (a 24-hour news TV channel) and GTV Life (a religion and culture channel), GTV Govern (a governance channel), Obonu TV (a channel for the people of Greater Accra and window for the Ga-Dangbe) and ten (10) Regional radio stations, five (5) District radio stations in Ghana. Please, pay your TV license fees to help GBC provide you with good contents
Our leaders drink diesel before they go to bed.i believe that,cos the way they wake up and come up with silly stuffs baffles me!!
Bright ,methinks you could have done better with this write-up. There is a law backing this license and GBC is just the collecting agency. Kindly review your stance after just a small research. You are above this
Even when we have paid for multi TV decoder which has GTV, we are denied the right to watch important matches shown by GTV on the MULTI TV decoder. Ask who and who watches the GTV? i will rather pay to watch UTV and Angel TV rather than GTV NPP must be careful with this policy as it has a big potential to send them back to opposition if they try to enforce this. I rest my case
I HAVE A TV SET CONNECTED TO THE DSTV CHANNEL. I PAY TO VIEW ALL THE TV STATIONS ON DSTV. GTV HAS CHOSEN TO BE ONE OF THE TV STATIONS ON DSTV. DO I HAVE TO PAY GTV LICENSE FEE HAVING ALREADY PAID MY DSTV BILL??? HEEEEEELLP.....
If gov't can't run GBC commercially, then sell it PERIOD. We should rather collect taxes to aid the Free SHS and not GBC. Has Peace FM, Joy and others run to anybody for taxes to run their businesses, why GBC that has free equipment, office space and regional offices? If gov't cannot run it, they shouldn't waste anybody's time and money. Being an NPP member, I will campaign to vote out all NPP MPs if they do not proscribe this nonsensical law. Assuming we are paying for free SHS, then I am fine with that but not for somebody's incompetence.